Tag: Uyghur Muslims

Categories
-Top News USA

US expresses solidarity with Uyghur Muslims

China forcing marriages between majority Han Chinese and ethnic minority Uyghurs

According to rights groups, Uighurs are subjected to mass imprisonment in forced labour camps and banned from expressing their culture…reports Asian Lite News

President Joe Biden has expressed “solidarity” with China’s embattled Uighur minority in a message to Muslims around the world as they celebrate the holy month of Ramadan.

“Together with our partners, the United States stands in solidarity with Muslims who continue to face oppression, including Uighurs in the People’s Republic of China, Rohingya in Burma, and other Muslim communities facing persecution around the world,” Biden said in a statement on Thursday. Myanmar was formerly known as Burma.

“During this sacred time of reflection, the United States also reaffirms our support to Muslim communities suffering hardships and devastation,” Biden said, referring to earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria, and flood victims in Pakistan.

“Today especially, we remember the universal human right to practice, pray, and preach our faiths peacefully and openly.”

Biden’s highlighting of the Uighurs – who the US government says are being subjected to genocide by the Chinese communist authorities – came at a time of strong tension between Washington and Beijing.

According to rights groups, Uighurs are subjected to mass imprisonment in forced labour camps and banned from expressing their culture. Beijing says the ethnic minority is not being repressed and that any security measures in their northwestern region of Xinjiang are a response to a terrorism threat.

China forcing marriages between majority Han Chinese and ethnic minority Uyghurs

Demand to curb human rights abuse

An Uyghur activist has asked China to implement the Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and OHCHR to investigate all allegations of human rights violations in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Zumretay Arkin of the World Uyghur Congress in her intervention during the 52nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council said, “It is with increasing concern that we monitor the situation in the Uyghur Autonomous Region. Since the OHCHR independent assessment, which stated that the violations may amount to crimes against humanity”, a number of UN reports have since been published.”

She added, “We take particular attention to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination’s decision under its Early Warning and Urgent Action Procedure published on November 23 reminding States of their responsibility to cooperate to bring an end to any serious breaches of human rights obligations. CERD also for the first time referred this matter to the attention of the Special Advisor of the Secretary-General for the Responsibility to Protect.”

The International Labour Organisation recently published its Committee of Experts report reiterating its urgent concerns in relation to Uyghur forced labour. UN Special Procedure mandate-holders have also issued a new communication in February.

More recently, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights issued its Concluding Observations after China’s review last month, raising a broad range of issues, from the de-extremification policies to reproductive rights.

Zumretay said, “Despite the increased UN reporting, this Council has failed to meaningfully address accountability avenues.”

“We call on the People’s Republic of China to implement the Concluding Observations of the CERD, and OHCHR. We also call on Member States to follow up on the CERD’s Decision,” she told the Council.

The US in its “2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,” raised concern over human rights violations in China, Pakistan and Myanmar.

In Xinjiang, in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the country report described how genocide and crimes against humanity continued to occur against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups.

“Genocide and crimes against humanity occurred during the year against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang. These crimes were continuing and included: the arbitrary imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty of more than one million civilians; forced sterilization, coerced abortions, and more restrictive application of the country’s birth control policies; rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence; torture of a large number of those arbitrarily detained; and persecution including forced labour and draconian restrictions on freedom of religion or belief, freedom of expression, and freedom of movement,” read the report.

Mass detentions

China has been witnessing a humanitarian crisis. More than one million Uighur and other Muslim minorities are forcibly held in mass detention camps in the Xinjian province where they face countless human rights abuses from forced labour, coerced sterilisation, and destruction of their culture and religious identity.

Recently, unknown hackers broke into Xinjian police servers, leaking thousands of photographs and documents that provide solid evidence of Chinese government policy targeting the Uighur population.

US slams China

The UN has accused China of “serious human rights violations” in a long-awaited report into allegations of abuse in Xinjiang province.

China had urged the UN not to release the report – with Beijing calling it a “farce” arranged by Western powers.

The report assesses claims of abuse against Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities, which China denies.

But investigators said they found “credible evidence” of torture possibly amounting to “crimes against humanity”.

Human rights groups have been sounding the alarm over what is happening in the north-western province for years, alleging that more than one million Uyghurs had been detained against their will in a large network of what the state calls “re-education camps”.

ALSO READ: US Fed raises key interest rate

Categories
-Top News Asia News China

People take to Istanbul streets against Chinese atrocities against Uyghurs

Demonstrations held in Istanbul over Chinese atrocities against Uyghurs…reports Asian Lite News

As China’s intense crackdown on Uyghur community continues in Xinjiang, a large number of people take to street in various countries to Commemorate the Ghulja Massacre. In Istanbul, activists gathered in huge numbers and held demonstrations against China’s atrocities towards Uyghur Muslims.

The International Union of Eastern Turkistan NGO Organizations organised the protest demonstration on Sunday. The organization held a massive anti-China protest demonstration followed by a press conference at Saryer, in front of China embassy in Istanbul.

Saryer is the northernmost district of Istanbul, Turkey, situated on the European side of the country.

President of the International Union of Eastern Turkistan NGO Organizations, Hidaytullah Oguzkhan, during his speech, said, “The blood of martyrs will not go waste and asked Muslim Umma (community), especially OIC country members to take note of china’s atrocities in East Turkistan and declare the act as genocide of Uyghur Muslims.”

During the speech, protestors raised anti- china slogans and paid homage to those killed in the Ghulja massacre.

Deputy chairman of the organization in his speech in the English language also reiterated the government of Turkey and other OIC countries to shun the dual standard policy and expose China’s Uyghur Muslim genocide on all international platforms.

Transportation was also made available for the people of Safakoi, Zeitinburnu, Basakh city and Salim Pasha.

Meanwhile, a series of protests were held across Bangladesh to mark the anniversary of the Ghulja Massacre, the local media reported, adding that activists highlighted Chinese atrocities and ongoing genocide against minorities, predominantly Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province.

It was the 26th anniversary of the Ghulja Massacre that took place in 1997 when Chinese forces allegedly killed and imprisoned thousands of innocent Uyghurs while they were participating in a peaceful demonstration in Ghulja in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) demanding religious and cultural freedom and equal rights.

Various NGOs and civil societies, Ulemas, and other organisations observed the 26th Anniversary of the Ghulja Massacre to support the legitimate demand of Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities being suppressed by China through various events.

Protesters expressed solidarity with the Uyghur Muslims and condemned China for adopting its double standard on minority issues and committing genocide on innocent Uyghurs. Protestors were carrying banners and posters highlighting Chinese atrocities on Uyghurs. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Pak mission in China tweets ‘freedom of Uyghurs’, govt says account hacked

ALSO READ: China ‘strongly’ opposes US move on Airship

Categories
-Top News Asia News China

Uyghurs call for global action, citing UN report on atrocities

The Uyghurs from 20 countries urged UNHRC to take up the issue in a Special Session or Urgent Debate with the aim of establishing a Commission of Inquiry (COI) to independently examine the treatment of Uyghurs …reports Asian Lite News

A group of 60 Uyghur organizations from 20 countries are calling for an immediate response to put an end to atrocities against Uyghurs, following the release of a report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) today. Uyghurs are calling for seven concrete actions by governments, multilateral bodies, and corporations.

“This UN report is extremely important. It paves the way for meaningful and tangible action by member states, UN bodies, and the business community,” said World Uyghur Congress President Dolkun Isa. “Accountability starts now.”

“This is a game-changer for the international response to the Uyghur crisis,” said Uyghur Human Rights Project Executive Director Omer Kanat. “Despite the Chinese government’s strenuous denials, the UN has now officially recognized that horrific crimes are occurring.”

The report offers the most definitive assessment of the issues faced by Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples from the world’s leading human rights body. Most notably, it finds that “arbitrary and discriminatory detention” of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples, within the context of other restrictions, “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.”

The report also notes that the human rights abuses have included “far-reaching, arbitrary and discriminatory restrictions on human rights and fundamental freedoms, in violation of international norms and standards,” and that documentation of “patterns of torture or ill-treatment” is credible, including “incidents of sexual […] violence.”

On the crime of state-imposed forced labour, the report affirms the “deep concerns” of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), stating that the “OHCHR shares, from the human rights perspective, the concerns laid out by the ILO supervisory bodies.”

The report recommends for the Chinese government to take steps to release those arbitrarily detained; clarify the whereabouts of detained family members; cease intimidation and reprisals against Uyghurs in connection with their advocacy; to cooperate with the ILO Committee of Experts recommendations; and provide “adequate remedy and reparation to victims” of human rights abuses.

The report recommends that governments should “refrain from returning [Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples] to China” and “provide humanitarian assistance, including medical and psycho-social support, to victims in the States in which they are located.”

The report also makes recommendations to the business community to strengthen human rights risk assessments in the surveillance and security sector in particular, and for companies to respect human rights across activities and business relationships.

Uyghur

What are the demands?

  • The UN Human Rights Council to take up the issue in a Special Session or Urgent Debate with the aim of establishing a Commission of Inquiry (COI) to independently examine the treatment of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples;
  •  The UN Special Procedures to consider evidence presented in the report and respond with recommendations for the UN and the international community;
  •  The UN Office on Genocide Prevention to immediately conduct an assessment of the risks of atrocities—including genocide and crimes against humanity—targeting Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples, and to alert relevant actors and advocate for a proportionate response;
  •  The ILO to take note of the report, include additional evidence of forced labour in its Committee of Experts annual report, and for delegates at the International Labour Conference to lodge a complaint against China for failure to uphold its obligations;
  •  UNESCO to urgently investigate cases of destruction or marginalisation of natural and cultural heritage, including UNESCO-listed heritage (Muqam, Karez well system, Manas, Meshrep, and the Tianshan mountain range);
  • The global business community to immediately cut all ties with entities assisting the government to carry out the atrocities, especially the programs of high-tech surveillance and state-imposed forced labour; and
  • Governments and international organizations to take urgent steps to protect Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples at imminent risk of refoulement, in line with a recent joint statement from 22 refugee and human rights groups and 50 Uyghur organizations.

“The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has waited far too long to deliver its report. The truth of China’s atrocities has once again been documented, and there can be no shying away from the obligation to act. Stopping genocide was a foundational purpose of the UN, and it must be upheld now,” said Campaign for Uyghurs Executive Director Rushan Abbas.

‘’Now that the leading UN office on human rights has spoken, there are no more excuses for failure to hold the Chinese government accountable,” said Elfidar Iltebir, Uyghur American Association President.

“Our people are enduring genocide that has been documented through research, exposed by the Uyghur Tribunal, and designated by parliaments,” said Hidayet Oghuzhan, President of the International Union of East Turkistan Organizations. “As the diaspora community, we call on international human rights organizations and governments to take immediate action to stop the ongoing genocide.”

In September 2021, OHCHR confirmed it was “finalizing its assessment” and in December a spokesperson announced that the report would be released in a matter of weeks. In an open letter in March 2022, over 200 human rights groups urged the High Commissioner to promptly release her Office’s report following the long delay.

The report comes after the visit of the High Commissioner, Michelle Bachelet, to East Turkistan in May 2022, amidst criticism from governments, international organisations, and Uyghur groups that the trip amounted to little more than a propaganda victory for the Chinese government.

Since China’s review by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in August 2018, where members registered “alarm” at reports of mass detention, UN experts have indicated deep concerns over the deteriorating human rights situation in China—and the Uyghur region in particular.

UN experts have issued 83 communications and 27 press releases to China since 2018, but noted they “have yet to see any signs of political will to address the concerns raised.” The Chinese government has not replied to 19 pending visit requests and rejected all Universal Periodic Review recommendations to provide unhindered access to experts.

In June 2020, 50 UN experts called for “decisive measures” to protect fundamental freedoms in China, including the creation of a UN mechanism to “closely monitor, analyse and report annually on the human rights situation in China.” On June 10, 2022, this call was reiterated by 42 UN experts, noting a lack of political will to address the concerns raised.

A growing number of governments have also expressed alarm about the human rights situation in China—notably the atrocities perpetrated against Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples. The U.S. State Department determined in January 2021 that this treatment amounted to genocide and crimes against humanity, and parliaments in Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and the European Parliament have all passed motions or resolutions condemning the atrocity crimes.

ALSO READ: How China accounts manipulate Uyghur discourse

ALSO READ: New UN rights report alleges China of ‘crimes against humanity’ in Xinjiang

Categories
-Top News Asia News

UN rights chief under pressure over Xinjiang report

Publication last year was postponed after China issued an invitation to the UNHCR to visit after years of negotiations…reports Asian Lite News

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet expressed criticism at the pressure she is under over publishing a report into the human rights situation in China’s Xinjiang region, home to the country’s Uyghur ethnic minority.

Speaking in Geneva less than a week before the end of her term of office, Bachelet on Thursday confirmed receipt of a letter from around 40 governments seeking to restrain her from publishing a report on conditions for the Uyghur and other minorities in the region, reports dpa news agency.

She did not name the countries.

“I have been under tremendous pressure to publish or not to publish. But I will not publish or withhold publication under any such pressure,” Bachelet said.

She added that her office was working to publish by the end of August as planned.

Publication last year was postponed after China issued an invitation to the UNHCR to visit after years of negotiations.

Bachelet visited Xinjiang and other regions in May.

Following the visit, she refrained from criticising Beijing’s policies in the region, drawing criticism from many countries for not clearing up allegations of rights violations.

Human rights organisations and Uyghur who have fled the region have reported that hundreds of thousands of people have been confined to re- education camps.

Tomoya Obokata, UN special rapporteur for slavery, reported last week that in certain cases “enslavement as a crime against humanity” could be involved. China dismissed the allegations as “lies”.

Human Rights Watch spokesman John Fisher (HRW) said it would be a “dereliction of duty” for Bachelet to fail the Uyghurs and other victims.

“At stake is her own reputation and legacy, the credibility of her office, and the trust of victims and their families,” he said in Geneva.

ALSO READ: How China accounts manipulate Uyghur discourse

Categories
-Top News Asia News

How China accounts manipulate Uyghur discourse

Pro-China stakeholders flood information ecosystems with counter-narratives, conspiracy theories, and unrelated news items to suppress narratives detailing Chinese authorities’ atrocities in Xinjiang….reports Asian Lite News

China actively attempts to manipulate and dominate global discourse on Xinjiang and to discredit independent sources reporting ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity conducted against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups, the US State Department said in a report.

China directed and affiliated actors lead a coordinated effort to amplify Beijing’s preferred narratives on Xinjiang, to drown out and marginalize narratives that are critical of China’s repression of Uyghurs, and to harass those critical of Beijing, said the report.

China’s messaging tactics seek to drown out critical narratives by both flooding the international information environment to limit access to content that contradicts Beijing’s official line, and by creating an artificial appearance of support for the country’spolicies.

Messengers use sophisticated AI-generated images to create the appearance of authenticity of fake user profiles, the State Department report said adding that China works to silence dissent by engaging in digital transnational repression, trolling, and cyberbullying.

China floods conversations to drown out messages it perceives as unfavourable to its interests on search engines and social media feeds, and to amplify Beijing’s preferred narratives on its treatment of Uyghurs, it said.

Pro-China stakeholders flood information ecosystems with counter-narratives, conspiracy theories, and unrelated news items to suppress narratives detailing Chinese authorities’ atrocities in Xinjiang.

Government social media accounts, Beijing-affiliated media, private accounts, and bot clusters, likely all directed by Chinese authorities, assist in this effort.

Former Under Secretary of State Keith Krach, Chairman of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue and a leading voice for human rights in China, said: “In Xinjiang, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is conducting some of the most serious acts involving mass human rights abuses since the Second World War.

“The release of the State Department report proves that the US understands the measures that the CCP is taking to cover up the ongoing mass surveillance, repression, and genocide of the Uyghur people. It’s another important step from the US toward holding the CCP accountable for their systemic campaign to wipe out the Uyghur population. The free world must not fall for the CCP’s deceptive tactics.

“Holding the CCP accountable requires an all hands on deck approach. Now, students around the nation are urging their universities to divest from endowments linked to China due to the crimes in Xinjiang. American investors should follow these students’ lead and divest from Chinese companies complicit in perpetuating and hiding the genocide.”

ALSO READ: What Xi’s visit meant for Uyghurs?

ALSO READ: China’s Xinjiang industrial plan is a threat to Uyghurs

Categories
-Top News China

UYGHUR ABUSE: 43 countries denounce China

The new additions to last year’s group, which included 39 nations, push back Chinese claims that the rebuke is part of a Western effort to keep China from rising…reports Asian Lite News

A group of 43 countries has denounced China for its human rights abuse of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.

The group of countries from all continents rebuked China for its detainment of Uyghurs in the western region of Xinjiang, reported The HK Post.

Generally, Western nations have been vocal about Beijing’s human rights record at the UN General Assembly’s human rights committee and this year Turkey, Eswatini and Liberia joined them.

The new additions to last year’s group, which included 39 nations, push back Chinese claims that the rebuke is part of a Western effort to keep China from rising.

“We have seen an increasing number of reports of widespread and systematic human rights violations, including reports documenting torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, forced sterilization, sexual and gender-based violence, and forced separation of children,” French Ambassador Nicolas de Riviere said on behalf of the group.

Uyghur

He further added that “widespread surveillance disproportionately continues to target Uyghurs and members of other minorities”, reported The HK Post.

Meanwhile, a new report published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) based in Canberra called for an investigation in China’s Xinjiang following the publication of leaked documents allegedly detailing Uyghur repression.

Between July 2016 and June 2017, government monitors assigned by Beijing flagged at least 1,869,310 Uyghurs and other citizens in Xinjiang for using Zapya (file-sharing application), the report revealed. ASPI’s latest report is based on thousands of documents leaked to the think tank, reported The HK Post.

Since early 2017, vast numbers of Uyghur men and women, as well as other Muslim ethnic minorities, have been arbitrarily detained or imprisoned according to the United Nations and human rights groups.

They include hundreds of thousands who have been sent to prisons, in addition to the one million the UN estimates to have been sent to internment camps.

The detentions and alleged abuses inside enclosed government facilities have been described by the United States and international human rights groups as a form of genocide constituting crimes against humanity.

Last month, Amnesty International accused China of creating a “dystopian hellscape” in Xinjiang. Amnesty said the minority groups had been forced to abandon their religious traditions, language and culture, and subjected to mass surveillance, supporting previous allegations of genocide and ethnic cleansing committed within a network of hundreds of detention centres, reported The HK Post.

The international community has been putting pressure on China over its treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, where the UN estimates hundreds of thousands of members of the ethnic minority have been held in re-education camps.

Beijing has defended the camps as vocational education centres intended to purge ideological diseases, including terrorism and religious extremism.

The UN group further called on China to allow immediate, meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang for independent observers, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The group also called on countries not to send back asylum-seekers from Xinjiang in light of the human rights situation there, reported The HK Post. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Anti-China sentiments fueling in Zimbabwe

Categories
-Top News China

Jailed Uyghur not released even after completion of sentence

The family expected him to come back home on June 22, but he did not return, and no notice has been received regarding an extension of his jail term…reports Asian Lite News

A person from the Uyghur minority community was not been released by the Chinese authorities even after the end of his ‘sentence’ and his family has no knowledge of his whereabouts.

Ilham Iminjan’s release was scheduled for June 22 after serving fifteen years of imprisonment on unknown charges. He is the second-oldest male in a family of five sons, four of whom have been detained by authorities, Radio Free Asia.

“The family expected him to come back home on June 22, but he did not return, and no notice has been received regarding an extension of his jail term,” a source told RFA.

Ilham was jailed when he was just 21. The entire golden period of his life was spent in prison and the family was planning his wedding as soon as he was released, the sources informed adding that Ilham is from China’s Xinjiang region.

The Uyghurs are facing discrimination in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) under Beijing’s rule, and the Chinese authorities are also trying to assimilate the ethnic group by restricting religious practices and the use of the Uyghur language.

China has held up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in a network of detention camps since 2017, RFA reported.

Beijing has been rebuked globally for cracking down on Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang by sending them to mass detention camps, interfering in their religious activities, and subjecting them to abuse including forced labour.

Lockdown in Xinjiang’s Ghulja city

Chinese authorities have imposed lockdown and other COVID-19 restrictions in Ghulja city as a response to the hike in the cases of deadly infection prompting ‘bread and butter’ difficulties for Uyghurs in the region.

People living in Ghulja, a city in far northern Xinjiang, took this to social media and expressed their concern about the COVID-19 measures inflicting more hardship on them given that many families have already been devastated by the impact of China’s system of internment camps that have deprived them of their breadwinners, Radio Free Asia reported.

Uyghur

Residents in Ghulja also informed that their doors have been locked from the outside and they have been trapped in their homes for at least a week.

“The doors are locked, sealed, and we are sitting at home without leaving,” a resident said.

Meanwhile, the sudden imposition of lockdown by the Chinese authorities has also made it difficult for people to go out and shop for food, Radio Free Asia reported.

“Be brave, my people of Ghulja, who have been trapped in their homes since October 3rd. … Especially the people who depend on daily income. Be patient, there is wisdom in everything,” wrote a person from the Uyghur community on social media.

Weeks back, China’s Fujian province had also reported over 150 cases of COVID-19 cases pushing authorities to shut down schools in multiple cities, in order to phase stricter epidemic prevention and control measures, reported Global Times. (ANI)

ALSO READ: China putting pressure on Haqqani to extradite Uyghur militants

Categories
-Top News China Europe

Paris being rocked by protest against China’s Uyghur repression

The protest saw the participation of hundreds of Uyghur youth who had travelled from various European countries as well as public figure…reports Asian Lite News

More than 2000 people gathered in Paris on October 2 and demonstrated against the ongoing rights violations of Uyghurs in Xinjiang by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The protest was organised by multiple Uyghur organisations including the World Uyghur Congress and the Uyghur Institute of Europe. The protest saw the participation of hundreds of Uyghur youth who had travelled from various European countries as well as public figures like Raphael Glucksmann, Member of European Parliament (MEP) and French actress Lucie Lucas.

Thousands protest in Paris against China’s rights violation in Xinjiang. Pic credits : Philarty

The protestors marched from Bastille square to place de ka Republique shouting slogans ‘genocide in progress’ and ‘Save the Uyghurs’ and carrying banners and East Turkestan flags. During the speeches, a call was made to the international community to cancel all agreements between the European Union and China as well as boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022.

Further, many speakers denounced the complicity of multinational fashion companies like Zara, Hugo Boss and Uniqlo, who continued to buy products produced by forced Uyghur labour.

Earlier, the same day, the NGO ‘SumofUs’ in association with the World Uyghur Congress, held a protest outside the flagship Zara store in Paris’s Champs-Elysees, against the brand’s sourcing material from China that used Uyghur labour. This protest, timed to coincide with the Paris Fashion Week, was intended to draw the attention of other fashion brands to stop sourcing commodities from Xinjiang.

Thousands protest in Paris against China’s rights violation in Xinjiang. Pic credits: Philarty

Assal Khamraeva -Aubert, the World Uyghur Congress’s representative in France and co-organiser of the event called on the French government to consider halting imports of products from Xinjiang that were produced using forced Uyghur labour. She added that the WUC hoped that apart from the international community recognising the Uyghur genocide, which would be a ‘symbolic victory’ it was also important to have an impact at the “economic level’.

Ibrahim Bechrouri, campaign manager of “SumOfUs” warned that similar protests would be organised in other European capitals including in Spain.

Some of the protestors specified the demands made by the movement, in particular, “the cancellation of the treaties signed between the European Union and China but also the cancellation of the Olympic Games in Beijing 2022”, due to the “massacre” of Uyghurs. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Taiwan slams China for ‘damaging regional peace’

ALSO READ: Taiwan slams China for ‘damaging regional peace’

Categories
-Top News China

Reports reveal China using DNA profiling against Uyghurs

Despite mounting evidence, Beijing has vehemently denied that it is engaging in human rights abuses against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang….reports Asian Lite News

Amid the mounting accusation of large-scale human rights violations and persecution of Uyghurs by China, fresh reports have emerged where the Chinese authorities are said to be racially profiling minority group to build a large DNA database.

China has been rebuked for cracking down on Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. Multiple reports suggest that Beijing sends the ethnic minorities to mass detention camps and interferes in their religious activities. Moreover, it subjects them to abuse including forced labour.

Despite mounting evidence, Beijing has vehemently denied that it is engaging in human rights abuses against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

A report by a Toronto based think tank, published on August 28, highlighted how a database is being made to enable selective ethnic cleansing in what perhaps could be labelled as one of the most “egregious crimes against humanity” that the Chinese authorities have undertaken.

“The incarceration of Uyghur minorities in Chinese detention camps and continued violation of human rights in the Xinjiang region has added another dimension, DNA and racial profiling, in attempts to build a large DNA database to enable selective ethnic cleansing in what perhaps could be labelled as one of the most egregious crimes against humanity that the Chinese authorities have undertaken,” said International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS).

Back in 2017, bioinformatician Yves Moreau at a research university in Belgium had discovered a paper in Human Genetics on a problematic theme, titled “male genetic landscape of China.” This study was based on a study of 38,000 Y-STR sequences, which are bits of repetitive DNA deployed for use in forensic investigations and law enforcement agencies.

IFFRAS report said that this research paper revealed several troubling aspects in the manner such genetic data was being collected. The think tank stated that the use of genetic data is often problematic per human rights standards due to its susceptibility to misuse and the violation of informed consent requirements when collating such data sets that involve DNA matter from minorities.

Uyghur

Further slamming the Chinese authorities, IFFRAS report said, “What Moreau has discovered is a revelation for the human rights community as several other journals have published papers on similar points that cover genetic data testing.”

According to the Toronto think tank, the paper published by human genetics is jarring for the human rights community as it includes important data of more than 300,000 individuals and is available publicly for use by law enforcement agencies and researchers.

The researchers from Canada further warned of a host of issues that range from privacy violations to genetic profiling, which in the hands of an authoritarian China drastically reduces public trust in human genetic studies and the ability of the academic community to maintain confidentiality.

Experts argue that informed consent and privacy are often alien rights to minorities who have been incarcerated by the Chinese authorities as nationalism eclipses all human rights in the minds of the CCP.

“In such circumstances, it falls upon the international academic community to publish genetic data without compromising on inviolable principles of informed consent,” the think tank added. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Disorderly withdrawal reason behind chaos in Afghanistan: China

Categories
-Top News China

Belgian Parliament passes motion recognising Uyghur genocide

The WUC also extended its heartfelt gratitude to all those in the Belgian Parliament, in particular to Ecolo-Groen MP Samuel Cogolati, who has advocated extensively for the recognition for the Uyghur genocide…reports Asian Lite News.

The Belgian Parliament on Tuesday passed a joint motion recognising ‘crimes against humanity’ and a ‘serious risk of genocide’ being perpetrated against the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, becoming the sixth parliament to acknowledge the genocide against Uyghurs.

The motion also calls upon the Belgian Government to terminate its bilateral extradition treaty with China and to block the ratification of the now frozen EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI).

Welcoming the nearly unanimous move, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) said in a press release that the decision of the Belgian Parliament to recognize the serious risk of a genocide of the Uyghurs is another important step towards widespread recognition of the Uyghur genocide”.

“It is imperative that other countries in the European Union, as well as the EU institutions themselves, follow suit and take a firm stance against China’s atrocities and recognize them for what they are: a genocide,” said WUC President Dolkun Isa.

The adopted motion in the Belgian Parliament came shortly after a hearing on the question of an Uyghur genocide was held in the Belgian Parliament’s External Affairs Commission. Former camp teacher Qelbinur Sidik described the horrific conditions inside the camps, highlighting systematic rape, torture, sexual abuse, and other forms of severe maltreatment.

WUC’s EU Policy Coordinator, Koen Stoop, in his statement, firmly called upon the Belgian Parliament to recognise the Uyghur genocide in light of the available evidence.

According to WUC, in addition to the recognition of crimes against humanity and a serious risk of genocide, today’s resolution further cites evidence of the dramatic decline in Uyghur birth rates as a result of mass sterilisation and forced abortions of Uyghur women, as well as the transfer of large numbers of children into state orphanages.

Over the past four months, the Canadian, Dutch, British, Lithuanian, and Czech parliaments adopted motions recognising the Uyghur crisis as genocide.

The WUC also extended its heartfelt gratitude to all those in the Belgian Parliament, in particular to Ecolo-Groen MP Samuel Cogolati, who has advocated extensively for the recognition for the Uyghur genocide.

“The WUC will continue calling on the European Union, its member states, and other national governments worldwide to follow the example of the by now five parliaments and recognize the Uyghur genocide,” it said in the release.

Earlier, the Czech Senate has voted unanimously on a motion labelling the Chinese government’s treatment of Uyghurs Muslim and other ethnic and religious minorities as amounting to “genocide and crimes against humanity”.

The motion, approved by 38 votes to 0 last Thursday, noted with concern the “massive violations of human rights and freedoms, genocide and crimes against humanity, ethnic discrimination, and the suppression of cultural, religious and political identity in the PRC,” with particular reference to the Xinjiang region.

The supporters of the motion claim that this would require the Belgian Government to act to prevent these abuses in accordance with its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

Samuel Cogoalati, Belgian MP and Co-Chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China said: “The world is slowly waking up to the horrific abuses committed by the Chinese Government against the Uyghurs and other minorities. The Czech vote is further proof of this. Tomorrow the Belgian Parliament has an opportunity to signal to the world that we too will not stand idly by while this suffering continues.”

China has been globally rebuked for cracking down on Uyghur Muslims by sending them to mass detention camps, interfering in their religious activities, and sending members of the community to undergo some form of forcible re-education or indoctrination.

After years of denying the existence of the internment camps in Beijing, China in 2019 described the facilities as residential training centres that provide vocational training for Uyghurs, discourage radicalisation and help protect the country from terrorism.

However, several media reports and former detainees have said that those in the camps are detained against their will and subjected to political indoctrination, routinely face rough treatment at the hands of their overseers and endure poor diets and unhygienic conditions in the often overcrowded facilities. (ANI)

ALSO READ-SPECIAL: Three Million Uyghurs At Concentration Camps

READ MORE-The Deafening Silence of Taliban on Uyghurs